WASHINGTON-In a startling development that could have serious political consequences for embattled House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) and serious legal consequences for others, an unnamed Democratic congressman divulged the contents of an intercepted cellular conference call that had Gingrich and other House Republican leaders plotting a stealth counterattack against the ethics committee’s findings after Gingrich promised the panel not to do so.
The episode, which the New York Times detailed Friday, may not only hurt Gingrich’s chances of remaining in Congress but could lead to civil and/or criminal charges against the Florida couple who taped the Dec. 21 conversation and the Democratic representative who received the tape from the couple and then leaked it to the Times.
Henry Hyde (R-Ill.), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, called on Attorney General Janet Reno Friday to investigate the case for possible violations of the wiretap law. Hyde also wrote FBI Director Louis Freeh regarding the matter.
